


It's Easier, If You Share It

by grubbies



Series: This is a Love Story [10]
Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Character Study, Established Relationship, Family, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Introspection, Light Angst, Other, Returning Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 20:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18169436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grubbies/pseuds/grubbies
Summary: “W-what are you?” He wails. Dylan would like to think at this point he wouldn't be so scared by an alien or a monster or… or whatever this thing is but…“What are you?”Dylan can't tell from their tone whether or not… whether or not they mean that as an actual question or a joke.Either way, he laughs. A little hysterical. A little in shock.They laugh too. Or, it's kinda like a laugh, anyway. Their surface ripples and when they smile, the two strange, extra little mouths on the side of their face open up and smile too.Weird.“My name’s Sleeper”“Oh” he says, and then, “do you - do you want a quesadilla?”





	It's Easier, If You Share It

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't gonna do another family fic this month, partly because ive been busy and partly because I actually managed to forget about the comics rn until the other day, buuut I was bored in class this morning, so I wrote more... <3
> 
> this is, in a sense, a story, with elements like "a plot" and """"conflict"""" but in another, truer sense, it's an excuse to flesh out these characters and to gush about this family!

 

 

 

 

 

A gust of winds billows against the side of the house, and the windows rattle in their loose, dry-rotted frames. The sky outside is foggy and gray - it looks sort of how Dylan imagines the inside of his head looks.

It’s not like he feels _bad._ I mean, not really. Just… cloudy. Tired. Eddie holds the back of his palm to his forehead - “I forgot about fevers” he laughs

 **“Humans are so…** **_bad_ ** **at your little equilibriums”** Venom extends tentacles out of Eddie’s shoulders and arms towards him. **“Here, we will fix you”**

“Wait!” he swats the alien tendrils away, sneezing in the process and his nose is running and - “can I - can I still stay home from school if you make me not sick?”

 

Of course he can.

Eddie knows, probably, that they should be a little more strict about school and attendance and learning and behavior in general, but - it’s been a tough year, and it’ll be summer in a few months anyway, **_and we can be strict next year._ **

 

“Yeah, yeah of course you can stay home if you want”

**“Chocolate waffles for breakfast?”**

Dylan smiles and nods as he feels that distinct feeling of some virus in his bloodstream dying and his skin clearing and his temperature breaking. He’s never gonna get used to this - not just the… _alienness_ of it all, but the - the humanity, or whatever, too. Eddie noogie-ing his head and Venom’s many-limbed hugs and just - being cared about. He knows it’s sappy or - or needy, but _god it’s nice to have a real family._

 

* * *

 

Around noon, the couple heads out, 'work to do'.

And sure, he’d probably stay home even if he wasn’t feeling sick, but anyway - he _is_ still a little feverish, a little fatigued, and the weather outside has gotten worse by now. Dylan’s happy to curl up on the couch in a soft warm sweater and binge _cutthroat kitchen_ until whatever midnight hour those two get home from… from “journalism” as Eddie puts it.

Half a year ago, he never wanted to spend time… “home”. The worst part was that, a lot of the time, it wasn’t that bad. Often times, Carl had been… _kind_ , perhaps _._ So when he wasn't it was… it was hard, never being able to know what he'd be coming back to. Hard to trust his own feelings, sometimes. Eddie called it “trauma” but Dylan… He thought that word was too big and too much. Trauma’s what people in slasher films go through, or babies in warzones. To admit that's what he's grown up with… it's too _much_. At least for now.

Yeah, for now he just snuggles down into the pillows and watches the lights of an ambulance pass by reflected in the droplets on the window. For now, he's content to be happy in the present, and maybe later, maybe one day, it'll be time to linger on the ways he wasn't in the past.

The cat mewls and paws across his legs and steps on his spleen with her heavy little feet. He smiles.

 

All in all, it's a very normal day.

Until it's not.

 

Until, a little after sunset, as he's making himself a (second) quesadilla, _something_ shambles into the apartment.

Right through the space under the door.

Dylan shouts and holds up the frying pan threateningly and he's yelling and _the one time Venom’s not here_ , and -

The thing cocks its head. _“You're not Venom. You're not Eddie”_ it says. It stands taller, its… goop forming together, and it ( _it? Is that rude?)_ almost looks like… kinda a little like the Symbiote.

“W-what are you?” He wails. Dylan would like to think at this point he wouldn't be so scared by an alien or a monster or… or whatever this thing is but…

“ _What are you?”_

Dylan can't tell from their tone whether or not… whether or not they mean that as an actual question or a joke.

Either way, he laughs. A little hysterical. A little in shock.

They laugh too. Or, it's kinda like a laugh, anyway. Their surface ripples and when they smile, the two strange, extra little mouths on the side of their face open up and smile too. _Weird._

_“My name’s Sleeper”_

“Oh” he says, and then, “do you - do you want a quesadilla?”

 

So now he's sitting across from an alien, glowing neon green and eyeing the cat, maybe a little confusedly.

They wolf down the food, and ask for another before seeing a pile of chocolate bars on the counter. _Ok, yeah, they're a symbiote,_ he thinks, watching them hastily unwrap one. Then another. Dylan can't help but giggle.

 _“Haven't had a lot to eat the past few days. The city is strange, last time ate someone, men with guns and fire chased me. Very annoying”,_ they scowl. Dylan feels his face go white, and they add “ _don't worry, bad man, deserved it”._

 _Yep, deefffintely a symbiote._ He smiles weakly and offers them a bottle of chocolate sauce from the fridge (one of many). Their eyes light up, literally.

 _“Missed these!”_ they exclaim, and Dylan still has no idea how they know this or his brothers or - _“the food behind the cold glass in the store is very hard to steel - they see the door opening even when I’m invisible…”_ their many mouths are oozing chocolate sauce and Dylan snorts.

What a weird dude - _wait, invisible?_ “What’d’ya mean invisible?” his eyes go wide at the thought. “You can do that!?”

Sleeper nods excitedly. _“Watch!”_ Which, it turns out, is kinda ironic, because then there’s nothing _to_ watch. They disappear in front of him. Dylan’s eyes hurt a little, looking at the spot they were sitting, like he can’t focus them. Like there’s something a little off. Like, something in his head doesn’t like looking. _Do you want to be invisible too?_ They ask, and Dylan can’t tell if the voice is in his head or out in the air.

“Yeah, obviously!” he laughs. Then he feels a tentacle curl around his wrist - he expects it to feel like Venom, but it’s a little off - almost kinda like human skin. Except he doesn’t have time to linger on that, because then all sorts of feelings and thoughts wash over him, and it’s so… _familiar._ Not the experience, but their presence. He feels… he feels like he’s known them a long time, or like… like the person version of deja vu.

And now, too, he can see them, again. He feels a little off, but he can’t tell if it’s the invisibility or this weird… connection. _Is this like… symbiosis?_

 _No,_ they answer, and this time it’s definitely in his head. _No, this is… different._ Dylan sees wordless images of things halfway and unexplained and amorphous. He… he understands, though, somehow.  

He looks at his arms - he can still see them. He now it’s like - _look!_ Sleeper grabs his shoulders and turns them to face the window, where the room is reflected against the dark of the night. The room, but not them. He stares at the blank spot where they exist, next to each other, but he doesn’t see anything. He jumps up and down, and then they do the same, and then they hold their hands and jump together, grinning, and the dry-rotted floorboards that Eddie always worries about shake beneath them.

 

And then, when his sides are sore from laughing, he realizes that there’s something missing and - “hey, you’re a symbiote, right? Where’s your… like, your human? Your host?”

Their grip on his wrist falls away, and then Dylan feels the world… tilt. Or, tilt back to how it had been. And then they look a little sheepish and melt a little against the arm of the couch. _“Don’t need one…”_ they explain, and he thinks about grabbing Sleeper again, to do that… mental connection thing, again, but… _“because, half human. Or, at least… part. I don’t need one”_

“Half human…” he hears himself repeat. _Does that mean…_ “you’re - you’re here… because… are you and Venom and Eddie…”

 _“Family”,_ and he can’t read the expression. Something radiated off of them - maybe just the weird green color they phosphorus or maybe an emotion like confusion or nerves. _“They are my parents”_ and then, very quiet and said to the ground, eyes small, _“missed… them…”_

Distantly, Dylan feels his stomach churning. _Oh._ He tries to speak but his mouth feels dry and numb. He tries again - “y-you’re… their… _kid?”_ he manages, a hard whisper with no sound.

Sleeper looks… a lot of emotions. They open their mouth to talk, then close it, once and twice and three times until they settle on _“do they - do they not want me back?”_ their tendrils circle one another anxiously, and then Dylan notices his hands are doing the same thing. _“I thought… they would be happy… missed family -”_

“I’m sure they’ll be happy!” he feins enthusiasm. Sleeper shuffles and eats more chocolate, and now everything fits together. _How did I not see it… so stupid._

_“You’re their kid too, right?”_

Dylan wants to cry. “Yeah. I guess”

 

* * *

 

Eddie had expected today to be long and tiring, but by early evening they’d found the two fucks who’ve been burning crosses in the park and the Symbiote’s well fed and then He’s purring in his ear, **_Home, home Eddie. My Eddie, home._ **

Now that home is more than a place, now that there’s a physical location that means almost as much as His favorite spot curled next to Eddie’s aorta, now they spend much more time there.

They feel light and airy and good as they park the bike in the alley. “It’s barely eight pm and we’re exhausted”, he muses. _What was that movie Dylan wanted us to watch together tonight?_

 **_Don’t remember. Something ‘so bad it’s good’._ ** Eddie feels a smile form against his neck, and shared skin prickles with laughter. **_Little human is so strange._ **

“You’re the one who chose this planet”. Unconsciously, he flexes his hand, and then Venom mirrors him, fingers lacing with his. “You chose our strange species”. He lifts their hands to his lips and places a kiss to the Symbiote. _Fuck I’m glad you chose us._

**_Eddie. Eddie Eddie Eddie Eddie. Always choose us. Always._ **

“Always”

 

They catch the feeling seconds before opening the door, not enough time to process. **_Eddie -_ **

And then they freeze. Staring ahead, where Sleeper and Dylan are watching netflix. Eddie feels tears well in his eyes, still not in the present moment because _Sleeper?_

The two kids look up at them as they stand in the entrance, stunned into silence. “Hey” Dylan says, voice small.

 _“Hi…”_ Sleeper’s voice is even smaller.

 **“Hey”** Eddie hears words spill from their mouth. He can’t - he doesn’t know where he is. Nothing feels real. He numbly feels his Other manifest around him, arms holding his torso tight.

The room is silent, something heavy lingering above them, before, _“been a while”_ they say, a little sheepishly _,_ and then their in their arms, held tight. Sleeper’s relief and happiness, and then Venom’s, and then all three of them are a sea of _home homehomehome._

 

Dylan watches the three of them ( _three? Two and a half?)_ from across the room, trying not to think about the dull ache in his throat.

He’s - he’s happy for them. Eddie and Venom deserve a real family. Their baby…

_Shouldn’t have gotten so attached. Stupid._

He’s digging his fingernails into his palms when he feels the Symbiote’s tendrils wrapped around his arms, and he’s tugged towards the pile of bodies. One of Eddie’s arms comes around him, and he knows he shouldn’t, but he hugs them all back. _Have to stop getting attached_ , but it’s hard to be sad when their waves of joy and togetherness are infecting him. Later, Dylan will look back and think he was weak for getting caught up in those alien emotions. And even later, he’ll look back and think that he should never have thought _that_. But for now he smiles against Eddie’s shoulder and relaxes into the gooey embrace.

 

Venom nuzzles Eddie’s face as they cut up potatoes and drop them into the boiling pot of water. His host is still shaking, and as much as He tries, He can’t get their skin to stop feeling cold. He feels Eddie swallow tears, for the millionth time in the past hour.

The Symbiote’s brimming with excitement, though. Eddie’s emotions aren’t even enough to calm Him. He’s so _happy._ Eddie is begging, _‘please darling, don’t get our hopes up’_ and _‘we can’t lose them again, we can’t we can’t, if we lose them again I won’t survive’_ but He can’t help the little pictures filling their head, of all of them together. **_Family, Eddie. Our family, we’ll be together. I promise, won’t let us get broken apart again. Will protect us, my Eddie._ **

His Other kisses His cheek, eyes soft and heart trembling. _We can’t force them to stay_. They put the lid on the pot and lean against the counter, tired as all hell. Behind them, Dylan is explaining some ‘video game’ he’s always playing to Sleeper.

 **_Not force them. But we’re family. All together now. Have to stay together._ ** He keeps imagining - all of them, safe and sound together, happy and loving and a family. He thinks about how aberant the idea is, how _wrong_ this would be to the other Klyntar. He can’t manage to feel anything but defiant pride and delight, though. No shame, no fear. **_Together, all of us together. Like it should be, like is right._ **

Eddie’s a river of sorrow and joy and pain and comfort and _oh god, we can’t lose them again._ The oven is preheated, and it interrupts their thoughts with its beeping.

 _“Are those brownies?”_ Sleeper asks eagerly, eyeing the tray as they shut the door. Eddie grins in spite of himself, and Venom hugs him tighter, pushing little waves of affection across their bond to fight off all that worry.

**“Of course”**

“A-anything you want” Eddie breathes, clutching Him like he’s afraid he’ll float away. It’s ok, Venom likes being his anchor.

 

Sleeper knows they’re trying not to make too big a deal. Like they’re afraid if they make any sudden movements they’ll be scared away.

It’s… maybe that’s true. This is all very new, and Sleeper is… hesitant. Confused. They spent so _long_ , worked so _hard_ , trying to want to be alone. For a while, they convinced themself that they did. They really, _really_ believed it.

But then - the void of space is cold, and harsh. Every day, they’d found themself _crying_ \- some stupid human mechanism they’d managed to inherit, shouldn’t even be possible, but - but for all the trying, they couldn’t stop themselves from being lonely, and scared. This constant need for warmth and… _love_ , it’s weakness, they think it must be. But… but their parents hug them again as they bring over heeping bowls of mashed potatoes and they feel… they feel ok being weak, maybe.

Next to them, the human child stares ahead blankly. He tries to smile when he notices Sleeper looking, but they can tell it’s forced.

They don’t understand what they did to fill him with so much sadness. One moment, he’d been happy and laughing and the next, he looked like there was a thousand pound weight on his shoulders. Maybe, their worry about Edde and Venom not wanting them back had influenced him… _or maybe he’s scared. Am… very alien. He must be scared._ They nudge Dylan with their arm. _“You almost beat level twenty-nine”_ they note.

He just shrugs and looks away. They feel… not good.

 

* * *

 

Eddie thinks he should have seen this coming. A cruel twist of irony. Standing in the door of Dylan’s bedroom, watching him pack a duffel bag, _are we gaining one kid just to lose another?_

**“Where do you think you’re going?”**

The kid jumps when he hears Venom’s voice, sturdy and concerned. Dylan looks… Eddie’s heart breaks when he sees how he looks. His eyes are red and his nose is running and he’s sitting on the floor stuffing all his clothes into the bag.

“I’m just…” he wipes his nose on his sleeve and avoids their gaze. “It - It’s uhh, it’s probably time I leave”

“Dylan…” their crouching down now, at eye level, and Edde’s trying, once again, not to sob. _What the hell is he talking about?_

 **“But… this is home… we do not understand…”** Venom melts against Eddie, soft around his heart and hurting everywhere. **_Eddie, Eddie what does he mean? Why? Why would he leave? We can’t let him… Eddie…_ **

Dylan continues to look down. “I mean, ‘s not _really_ my home… you guys aren’t like, my dads. I… I’m gonna leave, in - in the morning, or something…”, his voice a failed attempt casual. As if this is some small thing.

The air feels cold and wrong. Eddie clutches his Other’s hand as tight as he can. “Did we - please, if we - if we did something, we can -”

“No!” the kid shakes his head hastily. “No, no, you guys didn’t… you’re not like hi- you’ve been great but I…” he looks miserable. They feel miserable. Today should be a good day but all they can feel now is loss. “I just, I need to go…”

**_Eddie, I won’t let us lose our family. We won’t let him be taken away._ **

And Eddie wants to grab Dylan, to wrap their arms around him and hold him close and beg him not to go, but - _but we can’t. We can’t. We can’t._ Instead he says “is this… are you and Sleeper… we thought you two were - were gettin’ along, yeah? No?”

He looks about as close to crying as Eddie is. “Sleeper’s great!” he almost sounds - defensive, and then - “they’re great, you guys get to have such a good kid - you’ll have such a good _family_ ”. Now Eddie can’t even try to hold back his tears. “Your kid’s back, you don’t need to worry about some stupid _stray_.”

And then before he knows it they’ve broken down, arms thrown around Dylan, openly sobbing, the Symbiote melted over Eddie doubling back the tears.

 **“You are our child”** Venom insists, tendrils clutching him, face pressed against His host’s cheek. **“Our family, our family”**

All Eddie can manage is to repeat His words. “Our family, you’re our family”. Eventually, they feel Dylan hugging them back, feel tears against Eddie’s chest.

Then suddenly the kid pushes them away, angrily. “Stop’t” he growls, voice small.

“Kiddo, please…”

 **“Dylan-”** Venom extends a tentacle, but he bats it away. He’s packing again, little practiced, automatic motions. Eddie swallows, throat dry. His vision is bleary, and he tries looking through his other half’s eyes instead. Dylan’s expression is sour and destitute.

“Stop it. Stop lying” he laments. “You don’t have to pretend, I get it. You like having me around, but I’m not - Sleeper’s your baby. Please, please s-stop pretending”.

Eddie feels Venom looking over the memories that pulse through their headspace - the guilty pain of his childhood, his father echoing ‘you don’t want to be a burden, do you?’. Eddie reaches for Dylan again. “Please” he says, despite himself. “Please, _please_ , don’t think that”. He cries when Dylan scoots towards them again, a sliver of hope on his face, the tiniest whisper of affection flowing where Venom touches his shoulder. “You - you’re as much our kid as them. We promise. We promise, please, please, we promise”

**“Our family, our family. Just like them, all family. We promise”**

 

That’s how Sleeper finds them, the three of them, clutching each other on the floor, smelling like saltwater and radiating emotion.

Watching them, they feel… like they’re on the outside of something, like they missed their chance to be a part. It’s a distant feeling, but present. Growing stronger. _Hurts. Hurts everywhere._ Hurts how much they want to be a part of this.

But then Dylan looks up at them, from over Eddie’s shoulder, and he reaches out a hand, big smile on his tearstained face. They try to understand the gesture, but then, _oh._ They extend a tendril in response, and the little human takes hold, and tugs them close, and they melt against them all.

They feel the margins of shared consciousness, just whispers of symbiosis, and everyone is swimming in _hope_ and **_home_ ** and _familyfamilyfamily._

 

* * *

 

In the kitchen, over hot cocoa, as the rain turn to sleet against the window, Sleeper asks, _“could - just, just hypothetically, could I maybe… stay a while?”_

Eddie and Venom trip over their words, both trying to answer at the same time, but two mouths and one heart and they mumble out, **“of course you can stay”** and “as long as you want”.

It hits Dylan like a truck. Before he even hears the words, he remembers them. _‘Of course you can stay - as long as you want’_

Just like when he’d shown up. _Oh. Shit._

It clicks.

 

* * *

 

Sleeper shuts off all the lights so that they can show off their… glowy-ness. Dylan laughs as the they wave tendrils around and make faces, tongue stuck out of one of their weird extra mouths. “I wish I could do that!” he says. They beam, and swell with a strange, new sort of pride.

Venom and His human are gathering blankets and pillows from around the house, for ‘bed time’. Sleeper can’t help feeling happy. _Safe._ The couple are leaning their foreheads together and whispering soft words. From across the room, Sleeper can feel borderless, nebulous flickers of care. They can’t wait to tell them about their adventures. They know Venom will light up with elation and amazement when He hears their stories. **‘You’ll have the whole universe’** He’d said to them once, when they were very small, and very new. **‘All for you’.** They didn’t understand, at the time, how _much_ He’d meant in those words. They get it better, now, the ways in which they represent all the things their father was told could never so much as exist. Eddie, they can see it now, will practically cry at the things they’ll tell, say something about ‘my baby fought an entire alien army? Two armies!?’, and they still scowl, a little, at being thought of as a little child, in need of protection, but… But now they’ve seen the world for all its cruelty, and they realize, it isn’t _them._ Eddie doesn’t think they’re a helpless little spawn, but he knows that cruelty, and then, too, he _loves_ them so much.

Their parents… they’ve been really hurt. Suffered. Sleeper wants to protect _them_ , and so maybe it’s easier to accept that _they_ , in turn, want the same. They’re especially excited to tell them, no, _show them_ , about killing that sack of brains and organs they’d worn around while they… learned. ‘Tel-Kar’, as it’d been called, was a wealth of knowledge, but evil and horrible, and they want to see Venom and Eddie’s face when they watch it _die._ Sleeper will say, _‘see, it’s nothing now, I won, I won’_ and they’ll all feel _safe._

Safety seems to be an obsession with humans. Venom has always bared His fangs at anything that’s come near His one, and Sleeper gets it, now. Their bodies are easily wounded, and their minds even moreso. Eddie not so much, he’s… resilient. But still, they are much stronger than humans, and now that they’re home, they can keep him safe.

Dylan taps their arm, and says, “do you know where the cat went?” and they wave a hand, and then remember how humans say ‘no’ and shake their head. He asks, then, “wait, do you know what a cat _is_ ?’ and they think for a moment, and shake their head again, smiling, and he laughs. Dylan, too, they want to keep safe. _Family._

 

* * *

 

Eddie knows Sleeper always used to toss any blankets they gave them off, but still they leave plenty on the couch, even tuck one in. He knows it sentimental, and…and _human_ , but he can’t help it, and neither can Venom.

This feels like a dream.

It’s not like he didn’t _understand,_ when Sleeper left. They’re _not_ human - they grow up fast, and **‘stayed infinitely longer than a symbiote baby is… supposed to’** , his Other had whispered, a vain attempt at consoling them both. And Eddie is the last person to say that kids shouldn’t be allowed, even encouraged, to venture out of the nest. If he hadn’t left the moment he could, _fuck_ he would have probably shot himself by n-

 **_Stop thinking that,_ ** Venom growls, claws digging into his skin possessively. **_Stop._ **

Eddie strokes the the tendril curled around his torso and tries to feel soothing feelings. “Sorry, sweetheart”.

Anyway, he _gets it._

That doesn’t change the fact that their leaving had been one of the most crushing, heartbreaking, unsurmountable pains of his life. Even after almost a year, even after everything else, even when the thought grew small and quiet and infrequent, still it was there always, needling at his heart: _please come back, please come back, please._

Now they’re here though, clumsily playing ‘fortnights’ on Dylan’s phone as he watches over their shoulder.

_This has to be a dream._

**_No, it’s not. No, Eddie._ **

Venom pours out more of Himself from Eddie’s arms, from his torso, and then presses His face against the side of his, a toothy kiss along his jaw. **_If it’s a dream, never gonna let us wake up. I’ll keep us asleep forever._ **

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Eddie and Venom stop their doting and head off to bed (once Sleeper gives them a last hug, once they’ve whispered ‘goodnight’ in a voice much to emotional for a word that should be very mundane).

 

Now they lay in bed and try haplessly to understand the past few hours. It’s so huge.

Eddie lets out a shuttery, desperate sign. His Other emerges from his skin to nuzzle his face and hold him close. **_Eddie, my Eddie,_ **He croons, black webbing tight around him.

He cups Venom’s face, thumbs at the corners of His mouth, and he stares into His eyes. An unspoken _‘I love you’_.

Then a spoken one.

They relax into the mattress, stress washing from their body. Everything is heavy, but together they’re strong, maybe strong enough.

 **“They’ll stay, Eddie”** He whispers in his ear, **“we know they will, we know we can all stay together this time”.**

“Oh god I hope so” he breathes. The Symbiote kisses him, tender and sleepy. Eddie smiles against His teeth. And then, lips parted and words soft, “we always got each other though, yeah?”

**“Always”**

Eddie kisses Him again.

Again.

**_Together, Eddie. Together._ **

 

* * *

 

It’s a full moon, and it shines bright through the dirty windows as the clouds clear late into the night.

After their… parents… go to bed, Dylan stays up showing them ‘vines’ on the computer for a while, but then he’s yawning too. Sleeper nudges his shoulder and says, _“humans sleep at night, go to bed”_.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead”.

 _“That’s stupid”_ they laugh, and he laughs too. Eventually though, he says goodnight and leaves for his room.

At first, Sleeper is very tired, and happy to lay down on all the blankets and pillows their dads have left on the sofa. But -

 _But even with everyone around I’m lonely._ This place is new - not the same human house they’d known back when they were little, and they feel sort of strange.

Not even ten minutes after leaving, Dylan pokes his head out of his door, though - “hey, do you wanna have a sleepover?” they cock their head and then, “we can drag the couch into my room, there’s plenty of space”

 

So now they’re sitting up together, the room lit only by bioluminescence and the faint blue glow coming from Dylan’s phone, quietly playing music. Ever since the first time he saw Venom react to a fire alarm, he’s wary of sound and symbiotes, but Sleeper says they like it. _‘Nice frequencies. And nice patterns’_ , they’d said. _Weirdo._

“Gonna be so cool to have an alien sibling” he says, a little under his breath.

They’re form is smaller now, goopy, and they laugh, _“you think ’m ‘cool’”_

Dylan sticks his tongue out and rolls his eyes, but - “I mean, _yeah._ Obviously. You’re like, a badass alien hybrid. That’s pretty cool”, and then he looks away. “Hey uhhh - sorry I got all like… _bleh_ , before” he gestures with his hands, trying to communicate something he doesn’t have the right words for.

_“It’s ok. This is all new”_

“Yeah, yeah it is”

 

They talk about all kinds of human things that Sleeper is curious about and ‘crazy’ things that Dylan asks about, but now they’re onto painfully gentle things that they both don’t understand.

“You’re so lucky you get to only have them as parents” Dylan scowls, and Sleeper knows already he’s thinking about his childhood.

 _“Can show you, if you want”._ They want to, really. To share those memories of being tiny and not knowing anything in the world but love and safety. They don’t regret leaving, sure - they were restless, and even with all the ways the universe it terrible, it’s beautiful too. They want to see it all, and they still don’t really get why it was such a big _deal_ to Eddie and Venom that they had left. Or, they don’t understand it, logically, but they do feel it - that tiny tug, like a thread pulling them back here. They don’t regret leaving, but those times were nice, and they want to share them.

Dylan nods slowly, and Sleeper thinks they see a tear.

Hugging each other, they push images across - well, not a _bond,_ but a connection. Images of being held close, of Eddie’s voice whispering ‘’s cold out, gotta stay wrapped up little one’ as they head out into a storm, of Venom radiating love and care from Him to them, of cooking lessons and their human parent’s horrified face when their Klyntar one decided it was time to teach them to ‘hunt’. They think until they’re thought out, just a stream of emotion, vague memories of feeling safe.

Dylan looks stunned. When Sleeper lets go and stops showing, his cheeks are stained red, but he’s smiling. “Thanks” he whispers.

After a moment, the prod, _“show how you grew up”_. Dylan looks doubtful.

“You don’t wanna see that. Dark and twisty”. He frowns and fidgets with his hands.

_“It’s easier, if you share it”_

Tentatively, he leans his shoulder back against theirs (it’s something like a shoulder, _whatever_ ). “I don’t - I don’t really know how - to sh-show you things”.

Sleeper’s first thought is _that’s a lie._ Already, he’s shared lots of things they’ve never even heard of, just using all the weird little screens and lights humans pretend they’re dependent on. But they know what he means. _“You just kind of…”_ they gesture pushing something forward with their hands and imagine as hard as they can the process of bringing thoughts to the shared surface.

Dylan makes a face, and then _I’m never gonna be able to do this…_

Sleeper grins. _Oh yeah, ‘never’, sure…_

He smiles to. _You can hear me?_ And then series of thoughts about all the kinds of things the two of them can do with this new ability.

They’re really glad to have someone for these kind of… _what’s the word?_

“ ‘s called ‘shenanigans’”

_“Shenanigans”_

Eventually, though, Sleeper remembers, _“you said you’d show what it was like where you grew up”._ They make sure to add, _“don’t have too”._

Dylan shuts his eyes and exhales.

His stream of consciousness is disjointed. He’s not very practiced at sharing thoughts like this, but really, Sleeper isn’t either, much better at stealing memories from a _(stupid, terrible)_ braindead host, and they’d never do that to their new human ‘sibling’. So they watch his clumsy images.

They’re awful. His father (and Eddie’s, too, they put together) ignoring him whenever he obtained anything but perfection. The man’s drunken rage and _hitting_ Dylan. Morning hangovers and meetings with teachers where he’d deny any of it ever happened and all of the times Dylan’s brain told him to believe him. The kid’s mother, too, saying ‘if you don’t behave, what can you expect’ and ‘man up, be more like your dad’.

Dylan jolts away when the memories start flowing with less conscious thought and more like the tears out of his eyes - uncontrollable. “S-sorry” he mumbles, wiping his nose. “You shouldn’t gotta see that, sorry”.

Sleeper shakes their head. _No_ , they say, hand in his again. And then, _are they gone?_

Dylan nods. “Eddie and Venom… took care of it”.

 _“Good”._ The song on the little computer changes, and Sleeper smiles at the low, gentle frequency. The world is real big, but this seems like the best place to be, right now.

“Show me stuff from space!” Dylan wipes away the last tear on his face and smiles, big and broad.

So Sleeper shows him all the giant worms and green stars and planets with surfaces made of diamonds. Mostly, though, they show him their travels here on earth - to the highest mountains and to the arctic and through strange cities. But then, also, they show him that it was _lonely._

“I mean… maybe - maybe now we could like… go on adventures together? Maybe?”

_“Yeah”_

 

* * *

 

Eddie panics when they open their bedroom door in the morning to find the living room empty. Emotions crashing over him angry like a storm, _they’re already gone they’ve already left, no no no no no -_

Then they hear muffled voices coming from Dylan’s room, recognize two voices and lilting laughter and the opening theme song to _Parks and Recreation._

The door opens when they knock, and Eddie almost tears up at the two of them, blankets over their shoulders and smiles of their faces.

 **“Pancakes?”** Venom asks, because somehow He can still speak.

Dylan shakes his head - “Did you guys know Sleeper’s never been to Tico’s? ‘S not very cool of you, as parents”

Eddie’s heart swells with joy. “Ch-cheeseburgers for breakfast? Really?”

_“Yeah, duh”_

Venom kisses his cheek. **_See, they’re here to stay. Told you so._ **

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> wish me luck on having the self control not to read tomorrows comics update  
> (don't waste that wish, i'm a glutton for punishment, ima read it lol)
> 
>  
> 
> wednesday update :  
> ???????  
> hnnggh what the fuCK?  
> so the other day i was thinking about how _Dylan Brock: Dark Origins_ version of Eddie is just a running list of straight guy tropes (the beard could not BE more on the nose) and I was like, 'what str8 things has he not done yet?' and my mind briefly went to like... ASSUALT but then i thought 'no no, that's to far'  
> anyway maybe i'll finally stop reading now, because at this point it's just war of the realms and mainpain so who cares but anyway! glad i wrote this instead!
> 
> baby rights! <3


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